National Park Series | Theodore Roosevelt National Park | North Dakota

We visited Theodore Roosevelt NP in 2013 as part of a 7 state road trip, some may have called us crazy for such an epic trip and since hindsight is 20\20 I would totally agree with them.

Theodore Roosevelt NP has 2 parts, a North & a South unit. We spent a majority of our time in the south unit but did do an evening drive through the North unit while there.

What we really loved about this park was the abundant wildlife. There were a lot of buffalo, and new calves! Along with prairie dogs, wild horses, and elk.

Disclaimer: we never saw the elk but we were informed they do reside in the park.

I really wanted to hike the petrified forest so we set out for that end of the park, and found the trial was really more of a suggestion. Instead of a clearly defined path, it was more of a point A to point B sort of trail with markers to make it too.

The must see place for Travis at Theodore Roosevelt was Elkhorn Ranch, which was  Theodore Roosevelt’s cabin beginning in 1883. (Read More Here) The drive to Elkhorn ranch was a lot further than we expected and by the time we left, my poor car was on fumes.

Not every ‘town’ listed on the map in North Dakota, is actually a town. As we quickly learned when in desperate need for gasoline!

The fun part about Theodore Roosevelt NP is it’s a great open space to explore. Be sure to visit the Visitor Center and get the heads up on what’s in the park and then map out a day of fun. This park reminded me a lot of Denali (which I haven’t talked about yet) but it’s more like hike and enjoy within the boundaries of the park and don’t disturb the wildlife. We did a lot of the scenic drives and loved the views!

This is one of those parks we can’t wait to visit again in the future!

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